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Two Butt Ugly Americans Bare Their Guess What In Thailand

isisdave

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I know a family whose kid is in a Thai jail. These guys are looking at serious misery.
 

PigsDad

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Two 38-year-olds acting like juveniles. I will have no sympathy for them if they get the book thrown at them, but they will probably get off with a slap on the wrist.

Kurt
 

Patri

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I hope it is a slap on the wrist. Yes, it was disrespectful, but just send them home. Everyone cannot know every law in every country.
 

Luanne

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I hope it is a slap on the wrist. Yes, it was disrespectful, but just send them home. Everyone cannot know every law in every country.
You may not know all of the laws, but who would think it was a good idea to take a picture of their bare butt in a temple and THEN post it on social media?!?!?!? :eek:
 

DaveNV

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You may not know all of the laws, but who would think it was a good idea to take a picture of their bare butt in a temple and THEN post it on social media?!?!?!? :eek:

I read the comments in the linked article. These two guys have an Instagram page called "The Traveling Butts." They post pictures of their bared rear ends in various places they travel to. When I then did a search for them on Instagram, I found a number of similar pages from several people who are doing the same thing. Stupid and pointless? Certainly. But it is what it is.

In this day and age, I've seen and heard of much worse. However, respect (or the lack of it) of places and things belonging to others needs to be enforced. I've been to Thailand, and they make it very clear what is and isn't allowed in their sacred sites. If these men are convicted of the crime they are charged with (an obscure law in Thailand that claims uploading the pictures to the Internet equals trafficking in pornography) they will deserve whatever punishment is coming to them. Ugly Americans are everywhere. Stupid, ugly Americans are even more common.

Dave
 

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Everyone cannot know every law in every country.

But I am still amazed at how stupid some people can be when abroad. I was a military brat and I grew up oversees. We learned early on that stupid stunts could get you caned, lashed, and/or prison time and there wasn't a whole lot the American Embassy or American Government could do for you.

When I lived in Japan I took a side trip to Thailand. I didn't know anything about Thailand other than it was a cool place to visit. As soon as I left the airport I saw giant building size posters of what I quickly guessed was the country's benevolent leader. I immediately said to myself "oh, I'm in that kind of country." I wasn't passing judgment but I knew that I was in the type of place where they put the country's leader on the currency and if you put it on the ground and stepped on it you were going to jail. That you're probably guilty until proven innocent. And the judicial process is not like home.

My sister and I love to watch "Locked Up Abroad" and we always find ourselves screaming at the people in the show "No don't do it." Do you remember the book/movie Midnight Express. The true story of an American who spent time in a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle drugs. 2 of my brother's high school classmates were in the same prison at the same time as Billy Hayes. They were still only high school students when they were imprisoned for possessing a couple of marijuana cigarettes. One eventually got out, the other died in prison.

No, you can't know every law in every country but you have to have some common sense.
 

1Kflyerguy

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No, you can't know every law in every country but you have to have some common sense.

Agreed even with no knowledge of local laws it pretty easy to guess you might get in trouble for this...
 

DaveNV

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What I found interesting in the story was that they were arrested at the airport as they were leaving the country, but only after they had uploaded their photos to their Instagram site. Which tells me people were monitoring their Internet traffic. THAT is a lot more telling about lack of freedoms in a controlled country than the fact that they took the picture. Nobody saw them do that, it was uploading it that got the attention of authorities.

Americans tend to think they are invincible, and that other countries operate the same way the USA does. Not at all true. When my Navy ship visited Port au Prince, Haiti, in the Mid-70s, we had a forced-on-us tour guide who fought a fistfight with other tour guides at the boat dock for the privilege of showing four American sailors around the island. Over the next few days, as we tried engaging him in conversation, he was very reserved, and wouldn't talk about how it was to live in Haiti, about their government, and especially about their President. His eyes got wide when we tried to get him to tell us what he was afraid of, and he kept looking around him. His sense of paranoia was very real. He finally, firmly, declined to talk, and got very quiet. All he would say was that it wasn't safe to speak like that. Later, in a very private, confiding moment, he told us that two of his uncles had spoken their anti-government opinions in public. They went missing shortly afterwards, and hadn't been seen since. He was quietly terrified for his own safety. Poor man. We each gave him a generous amount of money for what he did, (it might have totaled $100 for two or three days of chaperoned tour guide work.) He started to cry, and tried to give us back some of the money. We insisted he had earned it, and he should keep it. Through his tears, with a shaky smile, he said that was more money than he'd earned in a year. (Roland Jean, if you're still alive, I hope you are happy. You were a proud man, living in a terrible situation. I hope you gained solace and peace.)

Dave
 

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Agreed even with no knowledge of local laws it pretty easy to guess you might get in trouble for this...
Agree as well. BTW, I've personally been to Wat Arun, and there are plenty of signs (in English as well as other languages) explaining the clothing rules. No shorts. Legs and shoulders must be covered. And then there are attendants as you enter to ensure you are following the rules. Those two arrogant, Ugly Americans knew very well what was not allowed, and chose to disrespect a sacred place to the Thai people in spite of that.

Not "knowing the law" is a laughable defense of these idiots.

Kurt
 

T_R_Oglodyte

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Everyone cannot know every law in every country.

No, but when traveling it's wise to become acquainted with the mores of the country in which you are a guest. Just as when you visit in someone's house. You can expec the hosts and other guests to adapt to you, and cement your reputation as an arrogant and condescending nether anatomical feature.

Or you can be humble and gracious, adapting to your surroundings.
 

PigsDad

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What I found interesting in the story was that they were arrested at the airport as they were leaving the country, but only after they had uploaded their photos to their Instagram site. Which tells me people were monitoring their Internet traffic. THAT is a lot more telling about lack of freedoms in a controlled country than the fact that they took the picture. Nobody saw them do that, it was uploading it that got the attention of authorities.
Nothing I read would lead me to think the government was actually monitoring their internet activity directly. The article stated:

they were on a 'watch list' after their social media posts caught authorities' attention.

I think it was just a case where the authorities got wind of the social media buzz surrounding the posted pictures.

Kurt
 

DaveNV

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Nothing I read would lead me to think the government was actually monitoring their internet activity directly. The article stated:

I think it was just a case where the authorities got wind of the social media buzz surrounding the posted pictures.

Kurt

Ok. I read between the lines, I guess. How would people in Thailand have known what the men did? And how much social media buzz would there be that soon for a picture on such a minor Instagram site? Somebody had to have been doing something, to bring it to the attention of the authorities. The men had to have told somebody, or showed somebody the pictures, or something. Something put them on that "watch list."

Either way, they deserve whatever happens to them.

Dave
 

PigsDad

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Ok. I read between the lines, I guess. How would people in Thailand have known what the men did? And how much social media buzz would there be that soon for a picture on such a minor Instagram site? Somebody had to have been doing something, to bring it to the attention of the authorities. The men had to have told somebody, or showed somebody the pictures, or something. Something put them on that "watch list."
It said they uploaded the pics on Friday (24th) and were detained on Tuesday (28th). In the world of social media, that is a pretty long time. I'm sure they have plenty of followers, and if the pics were tagged with "Thailand" for example, there would be a very good chance of it being seen by many people living in Thailand. Would only take one these Instagram users to be upset with theses idiots disrespecting their temple to report it to the authorities.

Seems much more likely than a conspiracy by the Thai government where they monitor all foreigner's internet traffic, I would think. But that would make for a more interesting account. :)

Either way, they deserve whatever happens to them.

Of that we can certainly agree.

Kurt
 

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No, I don't agree. It was very stupid. It was highly offensive. Should they get 5 years in a Thai prison for it? No.
 
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taterhed

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Hmmm

If you don't think that governments (all, not just some...) monitor social media, news and trending items etc... You're in da'Nile; and I don't mean Egypt.

Any significant (especially inappropriate or rude) trending social media site gets flagged for border movements.

The world is actually much smaller than it seems these days. And, it's not flat either.
 

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I hope it is a slap on the wrist. Yes, it was disrespectful, but just send them home. Everyone cannot know every law in every country.


I hope they do time. You can't fix stupid and disrespectful, but you can punish it. People like this pollute our gene pool.
 

DaveNV

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It said they uploaded the pics on Friday (24th) and were detained on Tuesday (28th). In the world of social media, that is a pretty long time. I'm sure they have plenty of followers, and if the pics were tagged with "Thailand" for example, there would be a very good chance of it being seen by many people living in Thailand. Would only take one these Instagram users to be upset with theses idiots disrespecting their temple to report it to the authorities.

Seems much more likely than a conspiracy by the Thai government where they monitor all foreigner's internet traffic, I would think. But that would make for a more interesting account. :)



Of that we can certainly agree.

Kurt

I hadn't considered that hashtags might cause the pic to pop up. Good point.

Dave
 

theo

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I hope it is a slap on the wrist. Yes, it was disrespectful, but just send them home. Everyone cannot know every law in every country.

No one needs to know any law in any country to demonstrate just a little common courtesy and a modicum of respect for another culture as a visitor.
To then upload and distribute their disrespectful and insensitive act was just sheer self-absorbed idiocy.

Those two morons are in their late 30's; they are not children or juveniles (behavior suggesting otherwise notwithstanding). Jail time would perhaps be excessive punishment, but I hope that their little "display" costs them a memorable combination of time, money and some well earned public humiliation.

Is it really any wonder that we "enjoy" (and now, deliberately "upload" even more proof of) that unfortunate and unflattering moniker of "Ugly American"?
 
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